breakingtravelnews.in BTNIndia
As a successful culmination of the collaborative and pro-active efforts of Ministry of Tourism with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, the seamless movement of commercial tourist vehicles has finally taken off. A beginning has been made as the first set of tourist vehicles left for the Golden Triangle of Delhi – Agra – Jaipur on July 17, 2010 and returned the same night.
The Golden Triangle of Agra-Delhi-Jaipur is one of the most visited by foreign and domestic tourists. There is going to be an influx of tourists during the Commonwealth Games. To avoid hindrances in movement of tourist vehicles in the NCR especially, in the Golden Triangle of Agra – Delhi – Jaipur, Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and the State Governments of NCT of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh has made an arrangement whereby taxes would be collected centrally at each of the four starting nodes at Delhi, Gurgaon, Jaipur and Agra in such a way that the taxes thus collected are to be apportioned and the tourist coach / car would be allowed unhindered movement in the Golden Triangle. An octagonal sticker with security features designed by the Ministry of Tourism in consultation with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways is being provided for the commercial tourist vehicles. The sticker contains all requisite details such as registration number of the vehicle, name of the operator, origin and destination points, route and period for which tax has been paid. There would be random checking by the Transport Authorities and both the Ministries would take penal action against deviants.
In the case of Delhi, the Delhi Transport Authority would collect taxes from the Government approved Tour Operators / Tourist Transport Operators on behalf of concerned states, based on type of vehicle, travel itinerary and tax structure prevalent. These taxes would be collected as separate drafts and Delhi Transport Authority would issue a composite permit allowing vehicles to move freely throughout the concerned states, on the circuit. All the concerned state governments for the duration of its validity would honour the permit.
The new arrangement would not only boost the tourist inflow in the region but also would be beneficial for the States to plug in revenue leakage. The Government approved Tour operators and Tourist Transport Operators are very enthusiastic about this arrangement by which they clear many hurdles in inter-state movement, in one stroke. Needless to say, the reduction in travel time by eliminating en – route hold ups is expected to bring in greater tourists satisfaction also.